Archives for: May 2013

I'm assuming that anyone who knows about health knows that fluoride is a toxic by product of aluminum manufacturing. Long ago some deviously brilliant marketer, looking for a way to dispose of the chemical trash, convinced city governments to put fluoride in tap water.

"It will help children have healthier teeth," they said. Ignoring the fact that while fluoride might benefit pre born babies in the womb, it contributes to osteoporosis in menopausal women.

Now I read an article that the whey protein fad is a similar scam. Whey is a byproduct of cheese and Greek yogurt manufacture.

Modern Farmer claims that whey is so toxic to the environment, that it illegal to dump. If it is put in streams and rivers, it robs the water of so much oxygen that fish and other aquatic life start to die off.

So the deviously brilliant marketers looked around for a place to sell their whey waste products. They convinced parents that it adds protein to baby formula. They convinced athletes that it will build muscle.

Whey protein is avoid for Type Os and Type As. Occasionally I see a post from a body builder trying to convince himself (or herself) that something so highly advertised couldn't really be avoid. I think the key words in that sentence are "highly advertised."

Now you have one more reason (as if you needed more than your BTD food list) to stay away from whey. Type As - go for soy protein. Type Os - go for egg white protein.

Bs and Abs - you will make the cheese and yogurt companies happy if you pay them for their trash.

The title of this blog is a Bible verse - Ephesians 4:26 to be exact. It reminds me that even though I get mad at marketers, I should not let anger dominate my life or make me stressed.

After I posted this blog, I went to photograph a kindergarten graduation. The kids were so cute, and I had a wonderful time. On the way home I remembered another example of food processors using advertising to convince us that something bad was really good; when in truth, it was only good for their pocketbooks. Adelle Davis recommended that no one eat palm or coconut oil because of the high amount of saturated fat. She decried the processed food industry's use of those to oils in crackers and pastries because they were inexpensive.

Dr. D agrees. Coconut oil is avoid for all types except O non secretors, and it's not beneficial even for them.

However, advertisements abound promoting coconut oil as a miracle healer. The high saturated fat content is ignored. I'm guessing that the profit margins are enormous.

The ads sound like snake oil to me...but I'd better be careful. I'm starting to get angry again.

There used to be this little window that would pop up on my computer screen that said "Five things that happen before a heart attack." After seeing it over and over, I got curious and clicked. I knew it would be a sales pitch (and I was right), but after watching a video for more than 10 minutes, I gave up. I didn't want to know the five things badly enough to invest any more time in the advertisement.

Soon another window started popping up. It said "Five foods never to eat" and there was a picture of a very ripe banana. Bananas are beneficial for Type O, so again I was curious. I clicked the link, expecting an advertisement, but when another video started, I thought, "I'll give it 60 seconds." After 60 seconds I escaped.

Still being curious, I began to bing bananas, and I found some interesting and useful information.

Very ripe bananas with dark patches produce a substance called TNF. Research indicates that TNF can combat abnormal cells. The more dark patches a banana has, the higher its level of TNF.

According to a Japanese study TNF from ripe bananas has anti-cancer properties. The riper the banana, the better the anti-cancer quality. Researchers at Tokyo University compared the health benefits of several different fruits, including banana, grape, apple, water melon, and pineapple. Bananas gave the best results, increasing the number of white blood cells, enhancing immunity and producing anti-cancer TNF. A professor involved in the study was quoted as saying that a banana with dark spots is 8 times more effective in increasing white blood cells than a green skin banana.

So we Type Os should be eating ripe bananas with dark spots, right? Not so fast.

Green bananas could have benefits for dieters and diabetics.

Dieters are sometimes told to stay away from bananas because they are starchy, but the type of starch in green bananas is resistant starch. Rather than being broken down during digestion, resistant starches pass through the intestines unchanged. This gives them the characteristics of insoluble fiber. Foods with resistant starch increase the feeling of satisfaction and being full. This may reduce calorie consumption.

Foods containing resistant starch increase insulin sensitivity. This may help people with type 2 diabetes control their blood sugars more effectively.

Resistant starch also benefits friendly, probiotic bacteria. As the good bacteria in your intestines ferment resistant starch to make energy, they decrease the level of bad bacteria in your intestines. Bad bacteria can cause several problems from diarrhea to chronic colon conditions. When resistant starch is fermented it produces short-chain fatty acids which improve colon health and may reduce the risk of colon cancer. The same short-chain fatty acids increases the body's ability to absorb calcium.

Dr. D says bananas are beneficial for Type Os. I buy them green, and think about how good the resistant starch is for me. As they ripen, I'm happy because I'm getting more TNF. I win either way with bananas.

I'm working with a client who wants to publish a three volume book on her family genealogy. She comes from a very interesting and historic family, which has made the project a lot of fun. I'm doing the layout and design, plus helping with the research.

She and her husband have a big garden, and one day while I was working he came in with several gigantic heads of cauliflower. Her eyes got big and she said, "What am I going to do with that much cauliflower?"

One of my facebook friends had posted a recipe for roasted cauliflower. It looked really good so I printed it out and took it to my client, who made it for dinner that very night. The next day she was raving about how good it was. Cauliflower is avoid for me, but I saved the recipe thinking that it would probably be good with other roasted vegetables.

Yesterday I decided to fix okra for lunch. My Honorable Husband said he would eat a little, but he wasn't a big fan of okra. It is beneficial for us both, so I wanted to prepare it in a way that might make him change his mind about okra. I was thumbing through cookbooks, when I remembered the roasted cauliflower recipe. I decided to make roasted okra.

Preheat oven to 400º.
Toss florets with olive oil, bread crumbs and cheese. Spread in a single layer on jelly roll sheet lined with nonstick foil. Season with salt and pepper. Roast 30-40 minutes, until nicely browned

I looked for gluten free bread crumbs at the grocery store. The first package I picked up was obscenely expensive. Irks me how food companies will take advantage of people with dietary concerns. Then lower on the shelf, I found gluten free bread crumbs by a company called Four Sisters and a Brother. There are NO avoids, and the price was reasonable - Hallelujah! If your grocer doesn't carry them, you can buy them on line.

Because Parmesan Cheese is already salty, I did not add any additional salt.

As okra cooks, it produces a slimy juice. While it roasted, I stirred it three times. The first two times made the bread crumbs absorb the juice so that the coating stuck to the okra almost like fried okra. The third time I stirred was too much. Some of the coating fell off. I can see there is an element of finesse to perfect this recipe with okra. I'm sure it's easier with other veggies.

The outcome - in a word was delicious. I liked it. HH liked it. The leftovers are not going to last for long.

Most mornings I try to glance at the Bing health news site, just to see what is happening that I might need to know about. This week two studies were released by two different Journals that reached different conclusions about salt. Arrgh! At first I was irritated. Then a remembered that conflicting studies about protein and fat were what convinced me that the science behind the Blood Type Diet was true.

Some news sites reported one study and some reported the other, but Brittney R. Villalva did a good job of covering both. Here are excerpts from her article.

While a number of governmental organizations have worked to drop the amount of salt contained in processed foods, the actual impact has been unsubstantial, according to a study published May 13 in JAMA Internal Medicine. The average amount of salt contained in packaged, processed foods only decreased by 3.5 percent, the study indicates, while sodium content in restaurant food increased by 2.6 percent.

"The strategy of relying on the food industry to voluntarily reduce sodium has proven to be a public health disaster," author and Center for Science in the Public Interest (CSPI) executive director Michael F. Jacobson said in a press release.

But at the same time, a study conducted by the Institute for Medicine has declared that dropping sodium content in excess in one's diet could also pose health side affects. While the study maintains that Americans still consume far too much salt and are in excess of the recommended 2,300 milligram maximum- it also suggests that those who have gone to great extents to severely reduce the amount of salt in their diet have not benefited medically.

"We're not saying we shouldn't be lowering excessive salt intake," Dr. Brian Strom of the University of Pennsylvania, who led the IOM committee, told the Associated Press. But below 2,300 mg a day, "there is simply a lack of data that shows it is beneficial."

The American Heart Association maintains that people should consume no more that 1,500 mg of sodium per day. The average American consumes about 3,400 mg. Many are still convinced that the large sodium intakes are resulting in numerous health problems.

The first thing that I wanted to know was whether Dr. D'Adamo took a position on salt intake. I don't have all of his books, but the ones I have don't mention salt except to say that it is neutral.

In one of his Ask Dr. D'Adamo columns he had this commentary on a study about heart disease.

...numerous studies (many harking back to the 1950's) have linked ABO type to higher levels of cholesterol and coronary artery disease. This study again demonstrates the power of defining diet by blood group: By using this system, you eat not just for today, but for tomorrow. If you are type A, you'll want to take the advice of the 'broad-band paleo-dieters' with less than a grain of salt.

This fits in with my Type A husband's problems with blood pressure. So I'll keep him on a low salt diet. But what about Type Os?

In Heidi Merritt's "On the Diet" column, she frequently recommended drinking water with "a pinch of salt and lemon." I tried that for a while, but it seemed to make me retain water weight, so I dropped it.

Adelle Davis focused her attention on keeping sodium and potassium intake in balance, warning that people eating a modern diet got way too little potassium for the amount of sodium they were consuming.

I remember many years ago trying a liquid potassium supplement that I eventually stopped taking because I started feeling faint when I was exercising. But then I tend to have low blood pressure.

The really confusing factor in all of this is that my Type O son, who is under 30 years of age, already has high blood pressure and is on a low dose of blood pressure medication. Because he is a single young professional, who eats out a lot, he has a hard time following his doctor's advice to decrease his sodium and increase his potassium.

I am left with the déjà vu feeling that something is missing in all of these studies. Perhaps one of these days someone, maybe Dr. D., will figure it out.

My Darling Daughter now has her own blog. As a pastor's wife, she usually blogs about spiritual issues in the culture. However this week she posted a pumpkin recipe that is incredibly delicious. Those of you who have read my blog for a long time have watched DD grow up from her middle school years. I'm going to post her whole blog so you can catch a glimpse of the young woman she has become. The Pumpkin Pudding recipe is at the bottom.

I love the reactions people give when they ask what the "orange stuff" that I'm eating is. I reply "pumpkin" - and then wait. The response is always - "Like, pumpkin pie?" "No... just pumpkin." "Oh..." [followed by a really grossed out look].

What can I say... I love pumpkin!

Not only is it a delicious vegetable, but it is also a very nutritious vegetable. Pumpkin is rich in beta-carotene, a pro-vitamin that is converted to vitamin A in the body - which is essential for eye health and may be linked to preventing coronary heart disease. It is also a great immune booster. One cup of pumpkin has ten grams of fiber, four grams of protein, and only eighty calories. The pumpkin seeds are also good for you. They have protein, magnesium, potassium, and zinc. They have high levels of phytosterols which can reduce cholesterol and help prevent against some types of cancer.

1 Corinthians 6:19-20
Or do you not know that your body is a temple of the Holy Spirit within you, whom you have from God? You are not your own, for you were bought with a price. So glorify God in your body.

To me, one of the best ways to glorify God with your body is by putting good things into it. If I nourish my body - the body that God designed uniquely for me - I am honoring Him. What I put into my body is important. Just as what I watch and hear affect my mind and heart, the food and drink I put into my body also affect me.

When my Heroic Husband prays for our food, he almost always says, "...and let us eat this food in a way that honors You." I love that! I want to live in a way that honors God - so why would I not want to eat in a way that honors God?

I was very blessed and fortunate to grow up in a home where health was important. When I was little, my Marvelous Mother fixed good food for me. As I grew older, she taught me to cook healthy food for myself. Today, we still love getting together and cooking delicious, healthy meals.

The other day, while I was looking at the benefits of chia seeds (and they are really good for you too), I came across a new pumpkin recipe. I decided to modify the ingredients a little and try it out.

As I was quickly mixing it together that night, my Heroic Husband asked, "What is that?" I said, "I don't exactly know, but it will either be really good or really bad." Let me tell you - it is really good!

Directions
Combine all ingredients in a bowl. Make sure to mix them well - the chia seeds and cinnamon like to clump together - as does the pumpkin.
[NOTE: Your mixture will look NOTHING like pudding. It will be a watery substance. Do not worry! As the chia seeds sit, they will absorb the access liquid.]
Cover bowl and refrigerate overnight.

3 John 1:2
Beloved, I pray that all may go well with you and that you may be in good health, as it goes well with your soul.